International Seminar International Seminar: “Investing in

International Seminar:
Seminar: “Investing in
Children in Latin y America and the
Caribbean:
Caribbean: A Commitment to Equity at
25 years of the CRC”
CRC”
SUMMARY
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE
On October 2-3, 2014 more than 220 experts from 22 countries met in Lima to share their
experiences in investment in children at the international seminar “Investing in Children: A
Commitment to Equity at 25 years of the CRC”. Conclusions from the seminar will contribute to the
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child´s forthcoming General Comment on Article 4 of
the Convention, “Public Spending to Realize Children’s Rights”, as well as dialogue on the post-2015
Sustainable Development Goals. The Government of Peru (Ministry of Economy and Finance and
Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion), Save the Children and UNICEF co-organized the
event.
In commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the
seminar provided a forum for dialogue and exchange of good practices on public spending on
children in order to assess progress and challenges in realizing children’s rights in the region.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS: WHY INVEST EVEN MORE IN CHILDREN?
Dr. Jorge Cardona, Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and coordinator of the
working group drafting a General Comment on Article 4 of the Convention, delivered the seminar’s
keynote address. According to Cardona, investing in children is 1) legally required 2) economically
profitable 3) politically advisable and 4) morally right. Cardona emphasized that investment in
children should reflect the principles of the Convention, including non-discrimination, the best
interests of the child and participation. Cardona concluded that, in a region with great inequalities,
not only more investment, but better investment is required.
PANELES: KEY POINTS
The following main points were raised during the seminar:
PANEL 1: Progress and challenges in investing in children and adolescents in Latin America
and the Caribbean
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While the region has experienced sustained economic growth, reduced poverty and
generally increased social spending in recent years, inequalities persist.
Latin America has been a global leader in measuring investment in children –almost every
country in the region has developed its own monitoring mechanisms. However, there is a
greater focus on measuring quantity, not the quality of spending on children and few
monitoring mechanisms have been institutionalized.
The diverse methodologies, measures and statistics across the region reflect different
country contexts, but the lack of standardization limits comparability.
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PANEL 2: Strategies and tools to improve the quality and equity of budgets for children and
adolescents
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Successful experiences in the region include results-based budgets, dashboards and impact
assessments to track, analyze and improve investment in children.
Equitable investment requires: 1) identifying the characteristics and needs of different
groups of children, and particularly excluded groups, and 2) defining measurable goals and
indicators to address their needs.
A comprehensive approach to child development yields betters results and requires strong
mechanisms for cross-sectoral coordination.
In the context of decentralization, countries must develop formal budget processes that
function at all levels of government. This implies strengthening management capacity,
particularly at the subnational level.
PANEL 3: Monitoring, tracking and analyzing the quality of spending on children and
adolescents
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Successful experiences in the region include results-based budgets and budget classification
tools/exercises that break down spending by right, age group, gender, result, type of
investment, among other variables.
Monitoring and analyzing investment in children requires accessible and up-to-date public
information platforms.
Civil society and international agencies can play a key role in providing independent
monitoring and analysis.
PANEL 4: Incentives and resource mobilization to improve public management
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Successful experiences in the region included subnational incentive plans, budget reallocation, fiscal space analysis and costing exercises.
Mobilizing resources for children requires rethinking national economic models and
promoting institutional culture change.
There is a range of resource mobilization options –each with its own risks and opportunities–
for countries to adapt to local contexts, even during periods of economic downturn.
PANEL 5: Sub-national initiatives for public investment in children and adolescents
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While budget allocations for public spending have increased in Peru in recent years,
subnational budget implementation has been limited. Building subnational public
management capacity remains a challenge.
Strong coordination mechanisms between levels of government are required to ensure
effective implementation at the subnational level.
Subnational initiatives are best positioned to respond to local needs and contribute to
concrete results. Successful experiences should be documented, shared and considered for
replication and/or scaling-up.
PANEL 6: Private sector investment in children and adolescents
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Building mutual trust between the private and public sectors remains a challenge, but has
been gradually increasing. Coordination between sectors is key to ensuring that corporate
social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and public-private partnerships are sustainable and
contribute to national goals. The private sector should complement rather than substitute
the State.
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CSR initiatives and public-private partnerships require the same kind of participatory
monitoring and evaluation as public sector projects.
The private sector is well-positioned to drive innovation in investment in children.
PANEL 7: Participation, transparency and accountability in investment in children and
adolescents
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Joint monitoring and evaluation mechanisms help build consensus and trust between
sectors.
There are still limited opportunities for children to participate in budget processes.
Successful experiences show that meaningful participation is possible at the subnational
level through, for example, mobilizing student councils and networks in participatory budget
processes.
Governments are increasingly using technology to share budget information. However,
platforms are not always user-friendly or kept up-to-date.
MAIN FINDINGS
Equitable investment in children requires:
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Conceptual shift from spending on children to investing in children, taking into account
characteristics including age, gender, area of residence, socioeconomic status, language,
ethnicity and culture to ensure all children have the same opportunities.
Rights-based budget processes that consider all children’s rights – not just survival and
development rights, but also protection and participation rights.
Results-based policies, programmes and budgets that are designed to be measured.
Institutionalized monitoring mechanisms and strengthened capacity of the public sector,
private sector, and civil society to implement them in a sustainable way.
User-friendly public information systems with timely, disaggregated data on: 1) the
situation of children, and 2) budget allocation and implementation.
Clear definition of roles and coordination between sectors, different levels of government,
civil society and the private sector.
Significant participation of the private sector in promoting and supporting rights-based
investment in children.
Social participation – particularly the participation of children and adolescents – in every
step of the budget process (from planning to evaluation), which implies creating spaces for
participation and building the capacity of civil society.
NEXT STEPS
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The Committee on the Rights of the Child has a first draft of the General Comment on
investing in children, which will undergo a series of consultations with stakeholders,
including States Parties and children.
Ecuador will host the next regional seminar on investing in children in 2015.
Peru’s Ministry of Economy and Finance will lead the creation of a regional knowledgesharing network on investment in children.
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